David Cameron sparked a foreign policy row today when he said Pakistan should not be allowed "to promote the export of terror" across the world.
Senior Pakistani politicians this afternoon told of their "dismay and anger" at the remarks made during a visit to their arch-rival, India.
For the second time in two days, the Prime Minister's directness became an issue. Yesterday Mr Cameron infuriated Israel and some of his backbenchers when he used a visit to Turkey to describe Gaza as a "prison camp".
Today, he stepped up the rhetoric against Pakistan, seen as a key ally in the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan, over accusations that it supports terrorist groups.
"We should be very, very clear with Pakistan that we want to see a strong, stable and democratic Pakistan," he said in Bangalore. "But we cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the world.
"That is why this relationship is important. It should be a relationship based on a very clear message — that it is not right to have any relations with groups that are promoting terror."
Mr Cameron said that it was "unacceptable" for Islamabad to sponsor terrorism overseas. His words delighted his Indian audience but provoked a backlash in Pakistan.
Abdul Basit, spokesman for the foreign ministry, said: "There's no question of Pakistan looking the other way. The Prime Minister is referring to reports and documents that are unreliable and outdated."
Khurshid Ahmed, a senator and vice president of the Islamist party Jamaat-i-Islami, told the BBC: "We are feeling dismay and anger. I'm afraid that the anti-American, anti-Western feeling on the ground will get a fillip from such statements. It's not acceptable to make a statement as he has."
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In a bid to cool the row, No 10 aides insisted that Mr Cameron was not saying that the Pakistani "government" had promoted terror, only rogue elements in its intelligence service.
As he travelled around India to promote trade links, Mr Cameron was also struggling to contain the Government's splits over immigration policy and their impact on overseas investment for Britain.
He admitted that there was a difference of opinion among Cabinet ministers over the new cap on non-EU migrant numbers.
Vince Cable yesterday warned of the policy's dangers to trade and said he wanted "as liberal" an immigration policy as possible.
Mr Cameron said: "It's perfectly legitimate for the Business Secretary to argue for the advantages of free and open markets. But we decide these things in a Cabinet in a reasonable and open way."
He also apologised for saying in Washington last week that Britain had been "the junior partner" to the US in 1940. He said he had meant the latter part of the Second World War.
